Our busy world

School has started up again, and with it my busy life resumes. I am back to teaching two classes during the week, taking two of my Ph.D seminars at night, running the food pantry, hosting a Bible studying once a week, and raising a walking/talking child. Her newest phrase is "That Mine!" Apparently everything belongs to Mia and we are to know about the new change in the rules.

I have also been feeling quite crafty lately. I've made Mia some really cute scarves that are "her size." Along with the scarves, I've made her some cloth dolls just like my grandmother used to make me. My grandmother always used her leftover fabric to make me dolls clothes or actual dolls. When my camera starts working again, I'll take a picture of my creations. Mia likes to chew on the dolls, apparently they are a good chewy texture.

On top of all of this, I have started training again. Once upon a time, in a far away land, I was something of an athlete. A good friend of mine is a personal trainer and she sweetly agreed to put me on a work out regiment to get me back and shape. So far, she's been killing me, and its been great.

Texas, Our Texas

Both my hubby and I are Texans. For those who have never lived there, we, like most Texans we know, take our heritage seriously. Everything is bigger in Texas, everything is better in Texas, etc. Since we relocated to Oklahoma for my Ph.D work we have determined just how much we missed certain aspects of Texas. The number one missed thing, however, is GOOD Mexican food!

My sweet, sweet hubby surprised me on Friday with a quick weekend trip to Fort Worth before I start up at school again. So fantastic.

We stayed in a great hotel, complete with two rooms, great sofa, amazingly comfortable beds, and a 42" plasma TV. (You see why he picked the location now?)


But the best part, the hotel was really cheap! (under $90!) The other hidden bonus about the TV was that it was within walking distance to a fabulous Italian restaurant, Italianni's.

Once he told me we were going, I quickly began looking for coupons for fun things to do. In Allen, there is a great outlet mall. And if you have small kids, or really like animals, Fort Worth has one of the top five zoos in the country. Luckily I found great coupons for all kinds of activities in the metroplex, including the zoo!

The Zoo was so great. Mia loved all the animals and people watching. Her favorite part, however, was getting to go inside the bird sanctuary and feed them. I did not want to do in, as I have a slight fear of them pecking my eyes out! She was fearless! Put her hand out for them to land on her!! I'm very proud of her being a little daredevil.
After the zoo, I had to hit my favorite grocery store ever...HEB Central Market! After we purchased some yummy food, we then hit the outlet stores in Allen. I had gotten a Coach purse for X-mas, but needed to return it as I am very picky about my purses. Luckily the nice Coach people were so sweet and let me take it back. So I found one that I LOVED, and by taking the other one back, I only had to spend $30! I love thirty dollars for a Coach purse!!

Then we hit a few more stores & then headed back home. In the meantime, however, we went grabbed some Mexican food, and got extra salsa & tortillas to bring back to Oklahoma. Mia slept the entire three hours home! Such a wonderful trip!

Starting her young...

We survived the holidays with only minor spoiling. Had many fantastic gatherings with friends and family. We are for the moment staying home for at least a week and getting back into our old routine.

As the above picture indicates, Mia got kitchen "goodies" for X-mas. Her big present was a play kitchen. Then family and friends added to it with aprons, chef's hat, stainless pots & pans, dishes, cups, play food, etc. It is all she plays with!

Since we've been gone most the break, I haven't done much shopping at all. I haven't been to CVS in at least 3 weeks! We've just been using our surplus or X-mas presents. I have so many new coupons to use that I got for X-mas, including lots of gift cards!

I've also been baking, a lot! Last week, we made Paula Deen's peanut butter cookies!

1 c. peanut butter
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Roll into a ball the size of a walnut, and bake for 12 minutes in a 350 oven. You can use a fork and make a criss-cross pattern on the top before placing in the oven, or you can put a Hershey Kiss on it...Try the Kiss, it is divine!

I Am Alive

So many of the blogs that I follow have recently posted, "I am alive" messages. The blogs seem to flow less frequently this time of year. I too am alive, but frantically busy. With Mia's birthday, Thanksgiving holiday, and now Christmas we've been frantic. This of course does not take into consideration hubby and baby both having severe sinus infections or that I am at the end of my semester and thus have extra grading on top of the 60+ pages of papers that I have to write for my own Ph.D classwork. I was very good and bought most of my gifts early, although one was stolen by a UPS worker. (An entirely different story, which luckily had a happy ending!)
I have done little shopping in the past few weeks. I bought diapers yesterday at CVS b/c I had some ECBs that were soon to expire. I needed the diapers for a diaper cake I'm making for a friend from church's twins baby shower! Thus, I need 2 diaper cakes. We don't have any diapers smaller than size 3 in the house anymore, and thus I had to purchase more. I only spent 2.15 (including donating $1 to St. Jude's) I will post the newest diaper cake creation when it is finished...

To hold over feverish fans, i.e, grandmothers and pseudo-grandmothers, and aunts who read this blog for couponing tips and/or pictures of Mia...here is a picture of our Little Red Raider to hold you over for a few days. (Or at least until I am able to hold my head up for a few minutes..)

**Notice the pirate flag that hubby made her to wave when Tech scored!**

Happy Birthday Mia!

My 100th post is dedicated to our little Mia. This weekend Mia turned 1! She had a party at her MDO on Friday and then the party at our house on Saturday. Her party was barnyard themed. I happened to have a red and white checked table cloth. We decorated the table with one of our presents to her, which was a Little People barnyard set. In true frugal form, I conducted the entire party from home made invitations to the cake and refreshments for $15.

This was how I did it:
Cake Mix & Frostings- Free after coupons at our local Homeland grocery
Chips- Free after coupons at Homeland (bought 2 bags)
Queso- Already had ground beef and rotel stored, used coupons for cheese (came out to be a $1)
Salsa- Free after coupons at Homeland
Cupcake holders- ($1) --had no coupons
Cow Print balloons, red balloons, giant cow balloon, and 1st birthday cake hat (Used 40% off coupon on total purchase for Party Galaxy--mailer coupon)--total purchase $6
Card Stock, envelopes, felt- (40% off total purchase coupon for craft store- mailer coupon)- total purchase- $7

She was a bit overwhelmed by the mountains of gifts. Her favorites included the floppy dog that plays music, a spin & say, school bus, a musical caterpillar and a pink cell phone.

The cupcakes were a BIG hit!
After the party was over, she 'mooed' at us and the balloons for a while.

DIY Kitchen Gifts!

Thanks to Like Merchant Ships for revealing this great list from Whole Foods on DIY Kitchen Gifts.

Wrap up your holiday shopping without leaving the house! Download festive gift tags for each recipe, complete with cooking and usage suggestions. These ideas are perfect for your "foodie" friends or those who love to cook or even merely enjoy a nice cup of coffee in the morning.

Some of the great ideas are:
Chili Oil
Herbes de Provence Salt
Vanilla Bean Sugar
Lavender Sugar
Maple Sugared Walnuts

**Note to my personal friends and family, please disregard this post once the holiday season arrives as you will find it as a stocking stuffer!**

My Schedule

A good friend asked me a few days ago what my schedule is like. As an expecting mother she worries she won't have time for the things she held so dear pre-pregnancy. I thought for a long time if there are things in my life that have been cut out since Mia and could only think of a few and they were temporary given that she is an infant. My friend intends on being a stay-at-home mom which I find fantastic. My mother was a basically a SAHM when I was little and it was fantastic. I have such amazing memories of helping her around the house. I had always intended to take more time off when my kids came around. Mia joined us much earlier than we had expected. We were not planning on kids for a few more years (at least until I got through with my Ph.D). The Lord had other ideas for us and we're glad we got her sooner rather than later! Thus, we had to make a few adjustments to the "perfect" baby raising scenario that I had in my head. This is all a long way of answering my friend's original question about what does my schedule look like as a wife, mother, teacher and Ph.D student.

It looks a little like this:
-Everyday must be up by 6:15 if I am to get everyone ready and out the door by 7:15.
-Everyday must have Mia dropped off by 7:30 at her MDO
-MWF- I teach at 8:30-9:30 and then hold office hours for the following 1.5 hours
-TR- I attend a class from 10:30-noon, use all time before to grade, read for my own classes, or write my own papers
-MWF- After office hours, I hit the books again, go to any meetings I have to hold as our history honors society's president, and again read somewhere in the library
-TR- After noon, I prepare for my 6-10 pm class on T or my 2:30-4 class on R.
-Wed Night- Go home, make supper, and hit church by 7
-R Night- I run our church's food pantry. Always a mad dash to get out of class at 4, pick up Mia and get to the church by 4;30
Saturday-Read, do all housework that can be done weekly
Sunday- My day of rest, get up early, spot clean the house, church by 10, small group (which we host this year) around 12, then lunch with friends, followed by my collapse so that I can ready myself for the next week.

**Here is the major caveat in this schedule. I made a pact with myself, hubby, and Mia that when I get home after being all day at school, I am truly home. I don't read, write or grade. That is our time. Most of the time I don't bring books home with me b/c I want to insure that I don't pick them up or neglect the family.

This is not always the easiest schedule or not working at home sometimes makes me anxious but its the best we can do for our family and knowing that although I hadn't intended to work, someday I can tell my daughter that she truly can do anything. If her mother could raise her, hours from family help, whilst teaching and being the only female in her Ph.D class, then she can do anything too.

I am very interested in hearing others' schedules. I find it fascinating how women work everything in....it just proves we really do rule the world, we just let the men take the credit. = )